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Tested with K-2006 & need help please

Hello, I used the Taylor k-2006 for the first time last night & I'm still very confused. I followed a YouTube video suggested & it helped. Our foreclosure pool hadn't been uncovered in 2-3 years, & it was black! We had to drain about 3 feet to fix a large area in the liner that had fallen down. Now, it's filled back up. I've used bleach only for a couple of weeks just waiting on my kit to arrive. I used 5 gallons last night to try & kill the remaining Algee in the deep end. I've vacuumed on waste every day & it's blue now, just cloudy. Although I can see about 5 feet down. I'd like to start using shock from Lowes instead of bleach just because it's more convenient for me. I tested the water last night (before the 5 gallons of bleach) and this is what I've got.....I've read through all the pool school articles & calculators & I'm still so confused, so please go easy on me Do I need to test with this mornings reading now?
FC-very light pink-No cholorine right?
PH-yellow, didn't register, so I don't know?
TA-10? Only 1 drop of R9 changed it to pink
CH-50
CYA-dot never disappeared
I've done the calculations in pool math, but I'm still lost. I guess I need to SLAM? Do I need to add baking soda first? Or stabilizer first?
ANY advise is appreciated!

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

No worries, we'll help. But do not run-out to the store and start dumping stuff in the pool. Algae didn't start overnight, and it doesn't get killed overnight. You have to MAINTIAN the required FC level and pass the "SLAM" link below to do that. As for the readings ..
FC - By doing the powder/drop test, you should have a number result (i.e. FC of 5, 7, 10, etc)
pH - Yellow (after 5 drops of red reagent) would be very low. In your case for a SLAM, it needs to be at about 7.2-7.5
CH - no worries. Not really pertinent to vinyl pools. Disregard for now.
CYA - Dot never disappeared probably means you have no stabilizer (CYA) in there. You need at LEAST 20 ppm, 30 preferably.
TA - That is low and could explain the low pH as well. TA is raised with baking soda

You do need to SLAM. Before doing so, please do this quick test:
Add some regular bleach for a target of about 10 ppm. Test it in 10 minutes. Did it remain close or did it totally disappear? If it went down close to zero in just 10-15 minutes let us know. If it held for a little while, then add stabilizer via the "sock method" for a target of 30 ppm. Once soaking, consider it in there.

Then add some borax to increase your pH to the light orange (about 7.2). Test in about 15 min to confirm and/or readjust and try again before the SLAM. You can also add some baking soda per the Poolmath Calculator to increase TA to about 60-70 ppm. But make sure you are doing the tests as indicated in the instructions before adding to much stuff. You want to be comfortable with the testing first.

Once you know FC (bleach) is not disappearing right away, and pH is in the orange (7.2), increase FC to 12 ppm and keep it there 24/7. Follow all the instructions on the SLAM page. Don't skip any steps and try to be consistent with the bleach - only regular bleach. No other products. It will work.

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

The foreclosure Now I remember...

Ok, the Shock from lowes is probably why they never opened the pool in 3 years, so you don't want to go down that road again... If it were me I would go to a salt water generator but I know you are trying to flip the house (it may be an easier sell if it were a SWG)

Yes you need to SLAM, but we need good readings.

FC: how many drops did it take to go clear? yes it starts out pink, use the 10ml test JimSwim.com FAS-DPD Testing with Taylor K-2006 - YouTube you will use this test the most so you need to know exactly how to do it.
TA: use baking soda to raise to 70
Ph: use 20 mule team borax from Walmart (baking soda will raise slightly)
CH: you have a vinyl pool so you are good
CYA: you need to add using HTH from Walmart up to 30 using an old sock and float it in front of a return (using poolmath at CYA 0)

If you can find 10% liquid chlorine it will be easier to carry, same 1 gallons bottles you will just use less..

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

Originally Posted by Texas Splash

No worries, we'll help.

You do need to SLAM. Before doing so, please do this quick test:
Add some regular bleach for a target of about 10 ppm. Test it in 10 minutes. Did it remain close or did it totally disappear? If it went down close to zero in just 10-15 minutes let us know. If it held for a little while, then add stabilizer via the "sock method" for a target of 30 ppm. Once soaking, consider it in there.

Do THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^ first please! It will tell us which way to go with your pool.

Kim (we got ya. I know you are under a time limit but we have to do this one step at a time.)

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

Thanks so much everyone! Can I do that quick test during the day or do I need to wait until the sun goes down?
-When I did the FC test I used 2 scoops of powder, do I need to continue to add powder? It never turned pink)
-I bought the Clorox brand stabilizer, hope it will work ok.
-I'm not even sure of the gallons in the pool, it's a 36x18, and I assume around 8 ft in the deep end, I'm getting 29,100? gallons?
-Any clue how much bleach, borax, & baking soda I need to purchase to get me started?
Thanks again!!!

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

So I retested the water since I added 5 gallons of bleach last night & it now shows CC 4.6, so it held some overnight. Do I still need to do the quick test or do I need to get it to 10 before adding stabilizer? Do I still need to slam? Thanks!

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

TB, you may have misunderstood. It's not the CC (Combined Chlorine) we need to hold, we need to know if your pool will retain any FC (Free Chlorine) for any amount of time. The FC is the fresh, clean stuff from your regular bleach. Based on your pool's history and condition after taking over, we want to see if you can bring the FC up to 10 and if it will stay there for 30 min to an hour or so. If it disappears really fast (like in 5-10 min), then we need to get really aggressive. Let us know please.

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

Originally Posted by Texas Splash

TB, you may have misunderstood. It's not the CC (Combined Chlorine) we need to hold, we need to know if your pool will retain any FC (Free Chlorine) for any amount of time. The FC is the fresh, clean stuff from your regular bleach. Based on your pool's history and condition after taking over, we want to see if you can bring the FC up to 10 and if it will stay there for 30 min to an hour or so. If it disappears really fast (like in 5-10 min), then we need to get really aggressive. Let us know please.

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

Originally Posted by TyroBullmastiff

Thanks so much everyone! Can I do that quick test during the day or do I need to wait until the sun goes down? You can do the quick test right now and should so we know what to tell you to do next. Do NOT do anything else until we know the results of this test.

-When I did the FC test I used 2 scoops of powder, do I need to continue to add powder? It never turned pink) Most of us only use one heaping scoop so with you putting in two and it not turning pick tells us there is no FC in your water.

-I bought the Clorox brand stabilizer, hope it will work ok. That is what I used this year with good results.

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

Help please! My dumb self added too much bleach (4 gal) & got FC to 14. I retested after 20 min, and it was the same.
I got:
FC-14
CC-.4
PH-7.6- which I have NO idea how it increased???
TA-.4- how can that be low & PH high?
Ughhh! Help!
I've read through all these articles, even printed them to study & I'm still so intimidated!

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

No worries. The FC will go down soon on its own. It won't hurt anything. Think of it as good practice with Poolmath. pH show high whenever the FC goes over 10. Don't worry about that either. TA - probably a testing error. Suggest looking over the instruction card one more time to confirm your steps. Easy stuff. We'll help.

Re: Tested with K-2006 & need help please

For now, simply let the FC sink on its own. Don't worry about pH when the FC is over 10. I suspect the TA number is different that what you first had, so simply practice that test a couple times. No worries, we'll help you get everything settled.